It appears that when it comes to overtime penalty shots, Adam Rota has a book.
The 19-year-old Grandview Steelers forward produced his second OT winner shoot-out style this month, beating Langley’s Cole Forbes with a deft deke to give his hometown squad a 6-5 win on Sunday.
Coming on the heels of a disappointing 2-1 loss to Port Moody a day earlier, Grandview coach Aldo Bruno was both relieved and a bit mystified as to why his club finds itself in such close quarters with teams far lower in the standings.
“That was a good comeback win for sure,” said Bruno. “For whatever reason, it seems to happen a lot against teams below us in the standings.”
Langley actually led 4-1 with just 5:21 left in the second period, thanks to four straight goals.
The Steelers began the comeback with Braeden Gurney’s powerplay tally late in the period, and the 18-year-old forward picked up where he left off with another extra-man marker three minutes into the third. Lucas Santucci tied the game midway through the period to force overtime.
In the extra session with Langley already a man short in the four-on-four period, a Knights defender was whistled for gloving the puck in the crease.
That put Rota at centre ice with just the goalie in the way – and the lanky forward buried it. He accomplished the same feat Nov. 6 against Ridge Meadows, and now leads the team with 12 goals.
A day earlier, Timothy Chow scored 1:30 into the game but Port Moody counted two of their own to eke out a win.
Both Port Moody and Langley languish in the bottom of their respective conferences, while Grandview is one point out of first with a 14-5-0-2 record.
The Steelers will host first-place North Van on Sunday, 4 p.m. at the Burnaby Winter Club.
